Commander Sisko has unexpected aid: the cloaked vessel has been striking Cardassian ships as well, and the Cardassian commander GulDukat intends to destroy the ship at all costs. Their unlikely alliance works well - until two of Sisko's crewmen are captured by the raiders. Gul Dukat will stop at nothing to gain his victory; now Sisko must locate the predator ship, hold off the Cardassians long enough to rescue his people - and prevent an interstellar war.

Canon characters listed below are linked to the main article about them. Non-canon characters are not linked, but those that recurred, appearing or being mentioned in more than one story, are defined further in Pocket DS9 characters.